


Sleep Well

by creeperfaec101



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 02:56:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10710717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creeperfaec101/pseuds/creeperfaec101
Summary: A quick one-shot about my inquisitor, Kieran, and Dorian. Not entirely sure where in the timeline this would fit in, but it does take place in Skyhold. Please be kind to me, I don't write that often.





	Sleep Well

Dorian found himself standing in an indistinct, dark space. Standing about ten feet in front of him was the Inquisitor, surprisingly well-lit despite the darkness.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he said to Dorian. “I have a question for you.”

Dorian waited for the question, but the Inquisitor paused for too long, so he gestured for him to go on.

“Did you honestly think I loved you?”

The question came sudden, and made Dorian feel uneasy. He crossed his arms and tried to seem unfazed, despite the defensiveness of such body language.

“Of course you do, everyone does. I am quite amazing after all,” he replied. The Inquisitor chuckled in response.

“Ah, the witty comments, the snarky remarks. That’s you.”

“Do I need to be more?”

“No,” he paused. “After all, you don’t deserve to be anything more.” In the blink of an eye, the Inquisitor was now just three feet in front of him. “You’re an abomination. A freak of nature.” He shrugged. “You were born for a single job, and you managed to fail from the start.”

“Please, I’ve heard all of that before. If you’re trying to hurt me, at least be creative!” Dorian yawned.

The inquisitor eyed him up and down, but Dorian couldn’t get a proper read of his expression or body language, it was just completely blank. Arms down at his sides, face as neutral as it could be.

“To be expected. Others would have taken notice as well, of course. Great mind think alike and all that.”

Before Dorian could interfere with another remark, the Inquisitor continued.

“You’ve failed yourself as well. You’ve let your guard down, given in to the temptation, and…,” He was slowly moving towards Dorian now, not really looking at him as he sauntered over. “In all honesty, I’m getting quite tired of you,” he sighed.

“If you’re trying to intimidate me, you’re not doing a very good job,” Dorian commented. The Inquisitor let out a hearty laugh, the kind that would normally give Dorian that good, buzzing feeling in his stomach, but now it just filled him with dread.

“Oh Dorian, do you even know me at all? I don’t need to be intimidating. I just need to be kind, charming. I need people to trust me to be a good person, to do the right thing.”

Dorian didn’t like where this was going. “And then what?”

His movement was almost too quick for Dorian to process, the Inquisitor’s hand on his shoulder, his face so close to his that he could feel his breath on him.

“The right moment.”

Dorian barely had time to look down to see the dagger that was then jabbed deep into his abdomen.

\---

Dorian let out a small cry as he jerked awake. He had been sleeping at the desk in the library. It was dark around him, still night, only a few beams of moonlight were shining through the window.

He looked around and noticed someone watching him from the darkness right outside the nook in which he spends most of his time in Skyhold.

“Inquisitor,” he said calmly.

The Inquisitor visibly bounced at the sound of his voice, not having realized he could actually see him in the dark. He moved towards Dorian, into the dim moonlight. Now Dorian could see he was rather scantily clad, but with the blanket from his bed wrapped around himself.

“Please, I’ve already told you to just call me Kieran. The titles just get so… tiring.”

“What are you doing here at this time? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Dorian asked. Kieran stuttered. He was rubbing his foot on his leg, and scratching his head.

“Uhm, well… I was trying to, but I just couldn’t fall asleep. I had this feeling something was… off. So, I came to check on you.”

“Very kind of you, but as I’m sure you can see, I’m fine,” he tried to wave it off.

“Dorian, you’re crying.”

This caught him by surprise, he brought a hand to his face and sure enough, it was damp. He quickly wiped the tears away as if it was nothing.

Kieran knew Dorian well enough that he wasn’t just going to lay this out for him without him either having to nag, or without waiting for Dorian himself to decide he wanted to share his troubles.

He strangled a yawn.

“Either way, you didn’t look very comfortable there. Come up to my chambers instead, the bed is more than big enough for the two of us,” he said, as he held out a hand towards the young man. Dorian thought about it, his back and neck would definitely thank him for accepting the offer.

_You’ve let your guard down_

“I wouldn’t want to impose-,“ he began, but Kieran cut him off. “You’re not imposing if I’m offering it willingly. If I change my mind you’ll be the first to know,” he said with a cheeky smile.

_The right moment_

Dorian hesitated, but decided to trust what he knew in a state of wake instead of dreams, and took Kieran’s hand. It was warm, and the Anchor prickled in his. Almost painful, but not quite. He wondered if it felt that way for Kieran too, except all the time. As they walked to Kieran’s chambers, Dorian made note of a few things. A small, almost unnoticeable limp in the elf’s left foot, the way his ears weren’t perfectly symmetrical, and most importantly, the way he hummed under his breath. Dorian had noticed this before while they were out on missions, but now that there was nothing but silence around them, he could finally confirm that Kieran was in fact humming. Was he aware of it? Maker knows.

There was something soothing about the peace and quiet during their walk upstairs. Only interrupted by the soft pitter pats of Kieran’s bare feet on the floor, and his humming, which was broken by a few yawns here and there. It didn’t even seem like he was doing any particular melody, just random notes that came to him.

Kieran’s chambers were nice and warm, in rather stark contrast to the rest of Skyhold. The doors to the balconies were closed, and the fire crackled comfortingly. This was where Kieran let go of Dorian’s hand, and headed for the bed. He barely made it before he fell face first into the pillows, his legs still hanging down to the floor.

“Need any help with that?” Dorian asked as he grabbed him by the ankles and threw his legs onto the bed. A muffled chuckle came from the pillows, and assumingly, Kieran’s face. He wiggled himself around, and up in a sort of sitting position as he gave the bed a pat, signaling for Dorian to join him. However, he quickly changed his mind.

“Actually, you should probably undress. That outfit can hardly be comfortable sleepwear,” he said, and gave him a tired, gentle smile. “Just… put them on the dresser,” he gestured vaguely towards it. Dorian raised an eyebrow at the proposition, but didn’t argue. After all, he did agree, it would not give him the beauty sleep he deserved (albeit obviously didn’t need, he couldn’t possibly get more beautiful).

Dorian had almost finished getting his clothes off when he heard the soft snoring coming from the bed. He finished up, and headed back. Crossing his arms, and shaking his head a little. The elf had curled into a ball, still with the blankets around him like a cape. His feet were sticking out, not getting any cover at all. Gently, Dorian climbed into the bed making sure to keep his distance, and laid down facing Kieran.

“You really should think more about your intentions versus your actions.” This caused a soft “mmmm?” from Kieran, who opened his eyes ever so slightly, his brow furrowed in a confused look. His intentions?

“I’m not going to say I’m disappointed, but for a brief moment I thought this was going somewhere… quite different. What with the whole “take off your clothes” and such.”

Kieran kept looking at him with the same face, until it suddenly dawned on him as he let out a tiny “oh”. He hadn’t thought about it like that. All he wanted was for Dorian to get some proper good rest, and the same for him. He really just wanted to be able to sleep without this worry about Dorian and he had hoped bringing up there would solve the problem.

“’m s’rry,” the mumbled and he rubbed his face into the pillow, trying to hide the goofy smile that spread across his face as he realized. “Di’n’t mean t’ disappoint you.”

Dorian laughed. “Worry yourself none, I’m not disappointed at all. Surprised, maybe, a bit perplexed. Curious.” And he really was. Seeing Kieran like this, so relaxed, so unguarded. Everyone always expected so much from him, as the Inquisitor, he was the one to lead everyone. It all rested on his shoulders (and to be fair he didn’t really have much in way of shoulders for it to rest on).

The elf had closed his eyes and was already falling asleep again. This gave Dorian time to really take it all in. He was young, but looked older. By default, everyone would treat him as such, and he would sometimes step into the role eerily well. Dorian knew though, and he could see it sometimes. The way he laughed, the weird faces he would pull, the humming, his body language when he thought no one was watching. So much of his age was portrayed through his personality. It had surprised Dorian at first, but once he found out how old Kieran actually was, it made so much sense.

Dorian’s eyes were busy really soaking in the sight; the grey hair, the slight bump on his nose, his patchy skin, those unnaturally bright eyelashes and the shade of what could be facial hair or simply dirt at the bottom half of his face. Dorian reached out and gently put his hand on it, running his fingertips softly along his jawline. Sure enough, there was the familiar feeling of hairs, although not stiff enough to have ever been shaved.

However, in his fascinated state, Dorian had forgotten that the other man was still hogging the blankets, and he was starting to feel it as the fire was now dying down.

He tugged gently at the blankets and whispered: “Are you going to share those?”.

Kieran, once again being awakened, and whose patience was probably wearing thin, apologized and started to unravel himself from the blankets before scooting closer to Dorian and throwing it over both of them. He took Dorian’s hand, possibly subconsciously, twining their fingers together and bringing it to his face. As he nuzzled against Dorian’s knuckles, he let out a deep exhale through his nose, the kind one does when really settling in to sleep.

Dorian on the other hand had his own breath stuck in his throat. First of all, he hadn’t expected Kieran to move even closer to him, as he could now feel the warmth coming off his body. Secondly, he definitely hadn’t seen the hand-holding coming. Not in this way, anyway, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

He looked at their hands, how they seemed to fit together so perfectly. There was a sense of safety surrounding them, and Dorian could feel sleep pulling at him now. He closed his eyes.

“Goodnight, Amatus, sleep well.”

**Author's Note:**

> The aftermath is that they only get like three hours of sleep and are both super grumpy the next day lol


End file.
